His days in office are numbered, but Mayor Mike Huether plans to keep his foot on the gas as he tackles an aggressive list of "biggie" to-do items before he leaves City Hall.

When Huether hands the baton to Sioux Falls' next mayor on May 15, it'll mark the end of an eight-year run with a long list of accomplishments — among them the Denny Sanford Premier Center, the railyard redevelopment deal and repairing nearly 500 miles of Sioux Falls streets.

But he's hoping to be able to tout at least 30 more "wins" when he looks back on his tenure at the helm of Sioux Falls city government.

It's a heavy load he's confident he can get done.

"When I'm in a road race and I see the finish line, I sprint," Huether said Thursday morning while overcast sunlight splashed into his City Hall office. "Because I don't want anything left over when I'm done."

In front of him were a pair of yellow sheets of paper dotted with handwritten notes about his big-ticket aspirations, a list compiled with the help of his administrative team. Not only did he have support, he said his department heads are as eager as he is to "spring to the finish."

"A couple said, 'No, mayor, we want to get this stuff done before you're done because of some apprehension in terms of what's going to happen when you're gone,'" Huether recalled. "What will be the direction of the next mayor?"

While he didn't share everything on his agenda, he opened up about some of the more ambitious stuff he wants to see happen in the next three months.

Ambitious to-do list

Chief among his ambitions is to announce the first private partner in the railyard redevelopment project.

After asking interested parties to submit their visions for the space, Huether said the city received six submissions. A selection team has reviewed those, and the city is working through project details before making a formal announcement.

It's unlikely there will be a groundbreaking there, though, before Huether leaves office.

But the mayor doesn't hesitate when promising there will be other opportunities for that kind of event. He said there'll be ground-breaking ceremonies for the Levitt Shell Sioux Falls at Falls Park West and a long-planned bike trail expansion on the city's west side, as well as the ribbon-cutting for the city administration building.

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Mayor Mike Huether sits with his lists while he talks about his last days in office Thursday, Feb. 8, at his office in City Hall. Huether has made several lists of goals he has nearing the end of his term.(Photo: Briana Sanchez / Argus Leader)

In the coming days the city will open bids for the bike trail project to add more than a mile of new trail and a more direct connection to the main trail loop for walkers, runners and cyclists living west of Interstate 29.

Huether will also set aside some of his remaining time to help city councilors as they inch closer to gifting some city-owned land for a veterans cemetery north of town. He'll also help councilors get the bulk of the 2019 budget in order and put the finishing touches on the mixed-use parking ramp that is expected to be built later this year.

Working until the end

Huether doesn't expect many hurdles to achieving his ambitions—the bulk of the public debate around several of his to-do items has already been had. But he's learned enough from his time in office to know obstacles have a way of popping up when it comes to government.

"There's no such thing as a no-brainer in politics," he said.

To his point, Huether's final two years have coincided with an often ornery City Council that's created challenges for his administration from time to time.

Councilor Greg Neitzert said regardless of the nostalgia of ending a term on a high note, anything on Huether's to-do list that needs Council approval will be vetted as if it was the mayor's first months in office. That Huether is finishing his tenure at the helm of city government pushing hard for his agenda isn't a surprise, though, he said.

"I’ll take each one as they come," Neitzert said of the "biggies" and lower profile items that could come forward between now and mid-May. "Mayor Huether is a go-getter and ... it's undeniable he's been very productive with his time, and I wouldn't expect anything less from him here at the end."